Protests greet FG’s planned regulation of social media
Avid users of Internet-based social networking sites on Wednesday protested against the planned regulation of social media use in the country.
The Federal Government through the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Mr. Benjamin Dikki, in a statement, had disclosed that the agency would roll out policies and legal framework for the exercise.
Dikki reportedly said the agency was committed to ending all manner of things being uploaded on the various platforms of the social media.
Many of the posted materials, he said, were done without recourse to age and sensibilities of the users.
But a cross-section of Nigerians, have expressed concern on the development, with many of them saying the FGs plan was just a subtle way to limit the freedom of expression they enjoy on the new media platforms.
Faulting the move, they said the plan was not in the best interest of Nigerians.
A reader on to ladunliadi.blogpot.com particularly described the move as an assault on free speech. The reader noted that the social media is supposed to be a place for Nigerians to freely express themselves without fear.
The reader added, What concerns Bureau of Public Enterprises with social media. There is the need to remind the Federal Government that regulating the social media is like controlling freedom of speech and movement.
They should focus on the important things bordering on the economy, education, health, manufacturing, exportation, solid mineral exploration, and agriculture. How can the FG say it wants to control what a person does on his Twitter, Facebook , Instagram or Google+ page. It cannot! It is like telling people who they can invite into their homes. It is a personal space and does not concern BPE.
Others who disapproved of the proposed regulation also wondered why the FG finds it easier to deny the citizens freedom of expression rather than implement people-oriented policies.
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Protests greet FG’s planned regulation of social media